August 2010

February, 2010
The Heritage Roses Group
(ISSN#1526-8276)
Editor: Jeri Jennings: [email protected]
22 Gypsy Lane, Camarillo, CA 93010-1320
Heritage Roses Groups:
Transition and Progress Continue ……………… Pg. 1
Voices From Our Past:
Pam Puryear ………………………. Pg. 3
Voices From Our Past:
Fragrance As Public Policy: The Seattle Experiment …….. Pg. 4
(ONLY IN THE DIGITAL EDITION)
Rose Rustling In My Own Back Yard
By Jackie Schmidt ………….. Pg. 7
A Celebration Of Noisette Roses ………… Pg. 11
I Know Why They Wear Purple Part I
By Darrell g.h. Schramm
……………………….. Pg. 12
Fall Open Garden Announced ………………… Pg. 16
Fall Seminar Planned ………………………. Pg. 17
Local HRG Groups News ……………………….. Pg. 19
‘Sunshine’ …………….. Pg. 22
Sad News From Euro-Desert Roses ………….. Pg. 23
Limberlost Roses Announcement ………………… 24
A Garden Of Roses To Save …………………. Pg. 25
Heritage Roses Groups Contacts ………………………. Pg. 26 & 27
‘Ping Dong Yue Ji’ ………………………. Pg. 28
Front Cover Photo:
‘Sunshine’
(Polyantha, Altin Robichon
(Orléans, France) 1927;
‘George Elger’ x
‘William Allen Richardson’
(Jeri Jennings Photo)
Heritage Roses Groups
Transition
and
Progress Continue
— Jeri Jennings
As reported in the May “Rose Letter,” the National Heritage Roses Group has
entered into a process of transition, following the loss of Founder, Miriam Wilkins,
making changes that should HRG to function in the 21st Century.
With filing as a California Non-Profit Association accomplished, and a bank
account established, it was time to create a Board of Directors to guide HRG’s
steps through the coming years. That has been done. The Board may meet in person, but conducts most business by means of the Internet.
In a series of meetings, conducted via the Internet, invitations to the Board
were extended to all current Regional Coordinators, the Conveners of some local
Heritage Rose Groups, and some other members of the heritage rose “community.”
By-Laws have been established, a Fiscal Year set, and a very conservative Annual
Budget approved.
The following Board and Officer positions
have been established and filled:
Alice Flores — Treasurer
William Grant — Member At-Large
Pam Greenewald — Member At-Large
Joan Helgeson — Secretary (Recording/Corresp.): 184 Bonview St., San Francisco,
CA 94110 [email protected] 415-648-0241
Clay Jennings — Membership Chair: 22 Gypsy Lane, Camarillo, CA 93010-1320
[email protected] 805-482-2066
Jeri Jennings — Associate National Convener
Barbara Oliva — Member At-Large
Kristina Osborn — National Convener
NOTE: One Additional Board Member is still to be added.
— Continued on Page 2
SUPPORT OUR ROSE NURSERIES!
THEY’RE AN IRREPLACEABLE RESOURCE
1
— Transition & Progress, Cont. from Page 1
DUES
One of the most urgent pieces of business dealt with by the new Board has been the
question of Dues. It was noted that the USPS plans another rate hike (amount yet to be
determined) and that production costs for the Rose Letter are likewise increasing. Accordingly,
by a vote of 6 Yea, 1 Nay, the Board elected to increase Dues as follows:
$
00
Digital Subscription 10. Digital “Rose Letter,” FULL COLOR, pdf format,
downloadable with password from the Heritage Roses Group Internet Web Site. (four issues,
available quarterly in January, May, August, and November).
NOTE: Requires High Speed connection. Enquiries: [email protected]
$
Print Subscription 16.
00
Printed “Rose Letter,” color cover, b/w inner pages. (Four
issues, mailed quarterly by First Class Postage in January, May, August, and November).
To see sample copies, in pdf format, visit the web site at:
http://www.theheritagerosesgroup.org/
The Board Meeting adjourned in late June. Another Board Meeting will soon be scheduled,
and urgent issues are considered on an “as-needed” basis.
If you have issues or questions to bring before the Board, please contact Joanie Helgeson by
email at: [email protected]
2
Voices From Our Past . . .
“Rose Letter”
May, 1980
Vol. 6, No.
Lily Shohan, Editor
Pam Puryear, Author
The year is 1980. Your current Editor has not discovered roses for her adult self. Lily Shohan has
returned to the Editorship of “Rose Letter” following Edith Shurr in this task. The late Pam
Puryear, here recounts the beginning of her noted career as a Texas Rose Rustler. jmj
It seems to me now that my life of crime began the day that my beloved, white haired
widowed mother returned home after a ride on local country lanes and said: “You ought
to have come along; we saw the dearest pink rose blooming along a fence on the road
to the city dump.” Little was I to know then that these fatal words were to imperil my
morality, my self-concept, and the arches of my feet.
So, armed with trusty trowel, I sallied forth to glean specimens of this vaunted bush.
Lo, when I arrived on the scene (which I shall forbear to describe; city garbage trucks frequent the lane), I found a sweet medium pink rambler had covered about forty feet of a
ditch, though the house site nearby was barely discernible.
Said I, sotto voce, “What an amazing thing: this rose has had no care for years
beyond counting, and yet it prospers here where only God waters it.” (In Central Texas,
God is sparing with His Watering Can.) And I pictured in my mind’s eye the well-tilled
bed wherein the hybrid teas reposed, amid manure and benomyl, luxuriating in perfect pH
— yet there they sulked, nothing but three brown sticks.
It was then the realization struck: There are other roses in the world besides hybrid
teas! The rose exists to please the viewer, not visa versa. So I reasoned.
From that day I date my resolution to scour the home sites and cemeteries of my locale for these old garden treasures.
Soon, I acquired skill and expertise. I learned what was needed in a rose-rustling
avocation: a sharpshooter, pruning shears, plenty of insect repellent, a sure poison ivy
cure, stout boots, some dollar bills, an honest (seeming) face, the word for “friend” in
various languages, some plastic pots, jars of water, and someone to drive the getaway car.
I “cased” the county for the most likely places, such as cemeteries of early date, and the
homes of black women. (For those of my readers from the North and West I should add
that the latter are gold mines for the seeker after old garden roses. For, unlike their white
counterparts, Negro women in rural areas are less likely to succumb to the latest ARS list— Continued on Page 4
3
Voices From Our Past . . . What’s Happening Now?
It happened in Seattle, in the late 1970’s, a project continuing into the 1980’s, aiming to
bring fragrance and color into the metropolitan area through the use of tough Old Roses
— cultivars that had demonstrated their ability to survive — and even thrive — with little
or no care from City employees. Today, Seattle is a City known for rose gardens, both
great and small — but what has happened to these inner-city plantings? Do they still
survive and thrive? And what happened to the “majority of Edith Schurr’s donated collection” at Edmonds Community College? Do YOU know? Can you report on their
status?
Fragrance As Public Policy:
The Seattle Experiment
-- Marvin Black
“Rose Letter” May 1980, Lily Shohan, Editor
It could be somebody’s Grandmother’s garden. In a plot shaped like Napoleon’s hat, a court
of Grande Dames are parading their June finery. The pomp of Koenigin von Danemark vies with
the flawless complexion of La Reine Victoria. At the edge of the crowd, Frau Dagmar Hastrup is
all satiny pink swirls. An elusive fragrance turns heads; aha! A flutter of white crinoline announces Madame Hardy, and the dark gentleman escorting her is Charles de Mills. It could be a
— Continued on Page 5
Pam Puryear, cont. from Pg. 3
ings. They know what grows well, they share favored roses among themselves, and they invariably
have green fingers. And they are proud to share cuttings with their neighbors.)
My technique in approaching the homeowner who boasts an old rose bush is to saunter to their
door, adopting a nonchalant attitude, and trying to project honesty and good will. I then compliment
the lady of the house on her skill and taste, and offer to purchase cuttings. I usually offer to exchange
some rooted plants among the extras I have collected as well.
Cemeteries are an easier proposition from a PR standpoint. Almost no one in residence is going
to complain if one snips cuttings from bushes there. However, I do like to keep a low profile, as a
ghoul tends to rank fairly low in our social structure.
When I have gleaned cuttings, I take them home to what used to be the vegetable garden. I carefully dip the ends in rooting hormone, and sometimes cover with a quart glass jar (if I have one). Old
Roses are better than most flora in putting out roots, but the jars are needed to retain humidity here in
our dry summers and falls. Early spring is reputedly the best time for root formation, so my first
propagating try was this winter.
With vast expanses of inverted jars, I have had many comments on my innovations in landscape
design.
Even at best, several years pass before my rustled roses can be moved to their permanent location
and before they bloom. However, I feel about them as the Audubon Society feels about golden eagles:
if these are lost, we aren’t going to get any more. With this worthy goal in mind, I urge all Heritage
Rose members to go out and rustle a rose today. The rose you save will be your own. PP
Pamela Ashworth Puryear, one of the three original Texas Rose Rustlers, was born in Dec, 1943, in
Navasota, Texas, and died in 2005. She leaves to us a legacy of found and preserved flowers, and
wonderful writing, both of which continue to enrich our lives. Her gentle humor remains a great gift.
4
Voices From The Past — Cont. from Page 4
planting in an old garden; it’s not, and all these roses are present in fives and tens and twenties,
all mixed together in a great party in the midst of downtown Seattle. Only 100 feet away, cars
flash by in a freeway canyon – soon their noise will be muted by the plants of Mme. Alfred Carriere, ten of them about old enough to be trained onto the freeway fence. Also in the same planting are Blanc Double de Coubert, Waldfee, Jacques Cartier, Nastarana, and Félicité Perpétue,
and within five blocks in three different directions 20 to 30-floor buildings are sprouting up.
This is The Seattle Experiment, an idea begun six years ago, when we decided to plant lots
of the old and shrub roses along our streets and freeways. The City of Seattle has planted nearly
1,000 such roses in that time (unbeknownst to most of our citizens) and in 1980 they’re beginning to make some impact. Our reasoning was this: we need plantings of tough shrubbery able
to succeed with very low maintenance levels. We have large areas of evergreen groundcovers
which we supplement with larger shrubs and with trees. Most of our shrubs, if they bloom at all,
bloom in spring, and most shrubs for summer need intensive pruning if they are to keep looking
good. We could buy old roses as cheaply as forsythias. The roses would bloom longer, have
fragrance, and have it in summer, when pedestrians would be out to smell it. We ordered the
kinds of old roses that have survived untended around abandoned homesteads, timidly at first,
but with more confidence these days. There are problems. Our maintenance personnel, told that
these roses were to fend for themselves and not to be sprayed compensated one winter by pruning everything like a Hybrid Tea! Following a lecture – “Don’t anyone EVER touch one of these
roses with pruners again!” we suffered through a nearly flowerless fourth year, and then last year
they began to perform. All over town, little tucked-in plantings of these roses are getting ready
for 1980, and the biggest floral part of all will be the planting I have described above. It is at
Pine Street and Terry Avenue*, five blocks from the heart of downtown Seattle.
The crew joked about my “little old lady’s garden” of roses, but went along with the game,
planting them properly. We put more roses in than the site needed, and scrambled them all – the
idea is to let the fittest survive. So far they are tangled together into a magnificent leafy jungle
that has delighted the elderly low-income residents in the apartments across the street. This
street is the main artery between the apartment district on the hill and the downtown night spots
frequented by several thousand young people who live in the apartments and walk back and forth
at all hours. It is my hope that they will be captured some June morning about 3 A.M. by the
rose fragrance. And if they want to pick flowers, that’s all right too.
If you are in Seattle in June, write or phone me (Room 704, Seattle Municipal Bldg., Seattle
98104, phone 206-625-2725). If you’ll call a week early, I’ll gladly take you on a tour of our
old and shrub rose plantings; they are in nine or ten other sites around town as well, and these are
old roses in a “different” setting, in drifts of multiples of one variety. And the varieties! Besides
the above, there are Agnes, Belinda, Cornelia, De Meaux, Dupontii, Félicité Perpétue, Goldbusch, Grootendorst Supreme, Hansa, Kathleen, Lawrence Johnston, Madame Isaac Pereire,
Penelope, Prairie Fire, Rosa paulii, and Dortmund used as groundcover, rubrifolia, Ruskin, Will
Alderman, and more. Bring your camera.
There are other notable public plantings of old and shrub roses around Seattle. The Wash. State
Dept. of Transportation has used some floribundas on the I-5 freeway in the north part of Seattle,
and several miles of rugosas are used on the left-hand slopes southbound as one leaves Seattle.
A small but high-quality collection of old roses is part of an exciting and extensive collection of
herbs and medicinal plants in the Pharmaceutical Plant Gardens on the University of Washington
campus. And 16 miles north of Seattle, Edmonds Community College plans this spring to plant
— Continued on Page 6
5
Voices From The Past — Cont. from Page 5
the first rows of roses in the new site for the Heritage Old Rose Garden. This garden
will be the home for the majority of Edith Schurr’s donated collection. Students
cleared a brushy tract of land on the campus and got the roses planted the first time
when the college changed the direction of its expansion. A new rose garden site had
to be picked and prepared, with the roses “stored” in close-spaced nursery rows.
Foundations and flooring have been constructed for a large old-fashioned pergola at
one end of the new garden. The College has completed a new parking lot against one
edge, and with the bull-dozers at last departed, the new rose garden is under way, to
be completed by 1982. This new rose garden will also include many old-time perennials and appropriate shrubbery, is now flanked by a sizeable border of more than 50
kinds of perennials, and will finally have a rock garden on its other boundary. While
1980 will be partly a “constructing” year, those wishing to see the progress on the
Edmonds garden may phone ahead to the college, 775-4444 for Dennis Thompson or
Dan Douglas in the horticulture department, who will show them the new garden site
and the roses, many of which will have to spend 1980 in the nursery rows behind a
utility shed in the horticulture complex.
Fragrance as public policy in the 1980’s? In Seattle it’s an idea whose time has come.
M.B.
*On my Google Map, it looks very much like this intersection may now lie under Interstate 5.
Marvin E. Black, former City Arborist for the City of Seattle, WA, was the author of several
publications on city plantings. Black is quoted as stating that “traffic moves more slowly on
streets lined with trees. Trees have a calming effect, and drivers are at least subconsciously aware that where there are trees, there are often pedestrians and children playing.” I suspect that he observed a similar effect from massed plantings of fragrant old roses.
“DE La VINA MYSTERY”
Hybrid Perpetual, Found, Santa Barbara, CA
6
With Pam Puryears words ringing in our literary
ears, we take a look at a completely different sort of
“Rose Rustle.”
My Adventures Rose Rustling
In My Own Back Yard
— Jackie Schmidt
Many of you go “rose rustling”, to gather unknown heirloom roses from
old cemeteries, homesteads, etc. Others of you are new to old roses, and don’t
know much about them, but are interested in learning. This is the story of how
I learned about old roses by discovering them in my own garden, much to my
astonishment!
It started 20 years ago when my husband and I moved into the 1905 Victorian house in San Rafael (Northern California) which had been in his family
since it was new.
His great-grandfather and both grandparents, avid gardeners, had formed
the garden over time, up until the 1960s. When we moved in, however, the
house had been a rental for over 20 years. The garden had been maintained to
some extent by my father-in-law, but was overgrown, to put it mildly. I had
moved from an apartment in San Francisco where I had lived for 15 years, and
I’d never gardened at all, ever. (When I was a teenager I used to volunteer to
do vacuuming and dusting inside of the house so that I would not be asked to
work in the very small garden of our tract house — true story!).
The third of an acre city lot of our new old house was (and still is) mostly
shady. Four huge old trees – two Scarlet Oaks, and two eugenias, are much
taller than the three story house. (Each of these had a trunk four to five feet in
diameter.) In addition, in some areas, original plantings of pomegranate, fig,
plum, and ornamental cherry trees have produced numerous volunteer offspring, eventually forming little forests which also included ubiquitous privet
trees. Original plantings of numerous ornamental bushes have become massive
thickets under the trees. There are some lovely old large camellia & hydrangea bushes.
So, when we moved in the garden sort of took care of itself. There was an
old sprinkler system for the lawns, and there was a row of standard roses in the
front of the property that my father-in-law had been taking care of. Otherwise,
everything was doing just fine with little care. The trees and bushes sheltered
us from the neighbors and the street, which was nice. I surmised that everything that needed much care had died, and the survivors were taking care of
themselves. This was fine with me. I commuted to a demanding job in San
— Continue to Page 6
7
Rose Rustling In My Own Back Yard, Cont. from Page 5
‘Le
Vesuve’
Francisco every day, and had no time to worry about plants.
We moved in in December. The following Spring strange things started happening in the
garden. It was a while before I noticed, but eventually even I had to pay attention. Little blue
flowers (later identified as grape hyacinth) started to come up in the side garden where a circular
path enclosed a garden bed. A flower bed beside the house suddenly produced massive amounts
of 3-foot-high multicolored flowers (later identified as a very old planting of an heirloom climbing petunia1. ). Strange, tall, thin leaves appeared, growing on the floor of the “forests.” (These
were later identified as heirloom iris and crocosmias3. and moved to sunny locations where they
are still blooming).
And then, there were the roses….
Our bedroom is on the second story at the back of the house. It faces a small lawn, backed
up by one of the volunteer forests. One day I noticed pale pink flowers sprouting all over one of
the old plum trees — 15 to 20 feet off the ground.
I stared and stared. I knew practically nothing about plants, but I was sure that was a plum
tree (it still had plum blossoms on it), and those flowers looked like, could it be? – Roses!
The old garage at the back of the property suddenly had dark pink flowers all over its roof,
and climbing up the hawthorn tree next to it. A eugenia 2. tree produced long swags of large
white flowers flowing down from about 15 feet up. The fence on the other side of the property
was suddenly clothed in what looked like the same dark pink flowers that were on the garage.
Deep inside one of the huge thickets of old bushes I saw the most beautiful, graceful, buff/pink
roses peering down at me from above. Even under what I thought of as the “barbarous barberry” – a huge old bush with nasty 2 inch long serious Sleeping Beauty’s Castle style thorns on
it – a tiny little bush came out, covered over with small peach-colored flowers. The top of the
large pomegranate thicket sprouted very large yellow/pink roses. In the front yard, in front of the
rose standards, other bushes (which I had not known were roses) suddenly bloomed with small,
red blooms, graceful white blooms, tiny clusters of raspberry colored blooms, etc. The most
amazing thing, however, was when what I had thought of as a big green hedge (about 6 feet deep
by 8 feet tall by 15 feet wide) at the front of the property suddenly covered itself completely with
large pink rose blossoms – it seemed like thousands of them! You couldn’t see the bush anymore
– just the flowers.
8
I was stunned. I ran to
my father-in-law who
chuckled and told me
that all of those things
were roses, planted by
his parents or grandparents. He told me the
names of the ones he
knew. He said that the
one up the plum tree
was called “America
La France”, and that
The Garden in 1911
the buff colored one
was called “Marechal
Neil”. There was a “Marie Louise” in the front garden, planted because that
was his sister’s name. He referred to the funny straight leaves coming up in the
forest as “my Grandmother’s flags”, and told me that if I moved them to the
sun they would bloom. It was not until they did bloom the next year that I realized they were irises!
I was so ignorant, I did not know that roses could climb up buildings or
trees, or be tiny bushes 20” tall, or be large hedges. I had thought of them, if I
thought of them at all, as stiff upright bushes with red or yellow flowers. Boy,
was I confused! I was talked to a friend of mine who had a Victorian house
and garden in Pasadena, and she told me to get the book In Search of Lost
Roses.
— Continue, Pg. 8
In 1925
9
Rose Rustling In My Own Back Yard, Cont. from Page 7
I read it, and finally had an idea of what these amazing things in my garden were. I got many more rose books and read them. I decided that the
“American La France” was Cl. La France. I tried & tried to find pictures that
looked like my buff rose (which I realized was NOT Marechal Niel), or the
large pink hedge, but I could not. The books I liked most were all by Graham
Stuart Thomas. He was a poet, and his books were just so lovely to read. He
made you fall in love with the roses.
I became interested in seeing if I could help the roses that had evidently
been in our garden for 50-80 years. I joined the American Rose Society. Carefully following their instructions, I bought spraying equipment and faithfully
sprayed & fed all of the roses. The result was that the Spring after that we had
no pomegranates and hardly any plums. I figured out that if you kill all of the
pollinators, that’s what happens, so I stopped spraying – permanently.
I bought lots more roses, and planted them all over – ground cover ones
out by the street, and climbing ones such as Madame Alfred Carriere on the
garage and up the plum trees, and banksia lutea, Cl Cecile Brunner, Sombreuil, Buff Beauty, Cl Iceberg, and Golden Showers to climb up the house.
But I still really wanted to know who the really old ones were.
Jackie’s “Grand Avenue Giant” — ‘Le Vésuve’
(China/Hybrid Bourbon/Tea) Jean Laffay (France, 1825)
Photo by Cass Bernstein
10
The breakthrough in identifying some of my old roses came for me when
Cass Bernstein walked down my driveway one Spring day. Cass said that she
had put my giant pink hedge rose on her web site, and called it “Grand Ave.
Giant”. She thought it might be the tea (or china?) Le Vesuve.
She told me the names of some of the roses in the front yard, growing in
front of the modern rose standards. They are Safrano, Cramoisi Superior,
and Madame Hardy. She also told me about the 2005 meeting of the Heritage
Rose Foundation that was happening in El Cerrito, and that I could bring cuttings of my roses there and experts would try and identify them. So, I went,
and took cuttings of my mystery buff-colored rose.
To Be Continued in The November Issue! Watch For:
��
��
��
��
��
1.
Finally getting some identities!
Finding old hybrid teas hiding in the garden
Rose standards die. Gorgeous heirloom roses pop up from the roots!
Finding old mystery roses in the neighborhood
Spreading old roses to neighbors yards
Old-fashioned climbing petunias are said to release a strong lily-like fragrance at dusk.
2.
Eugenia (Australian brush cherry) Syzygium paniculatum, (Myrtle family): An evergreen shrub
or tree, growing 30 to 50 feet. Handsome as a clipped hedge, multitrunked tree or screen. Compact
and dwarf forms are available. Can grow in several different climatic zones but can be damaged
in areas where temperatures fall below 25° F. It is not frost tolerant. It does best in full sun to part
shade and requires regular summer irrigation. Well-drained soils are desirable.
3.
Crocosmia — a small genus of perennial species in the iris family, native to grasslands of the
Cape Region, South Africa. They can be evergreen, or deciduous perennials, and grow from basal
underground corms.
ADVANCE NOTICE:
NOISETTE ROSES
Anniversary Celebration Scheduled
We hear from Jay Hiers at Edisto Memorial Gardens (Orangeburg,
S.C.) that the Gardens will host a gala celebration of the 200th Anniversary
of the Noisette Rose. The event will take place on August 20, 2011. Details are forthcoming, but we do know that a 7th-Generation descendant of
Philippe Noisette will attend and speak.
The Anniversary Celebration for the only American-Originated class of
roses will center around “Project Noisette” a new Noisette Rose display
garden within the Edisto Memorial Garden. As noted in an article in the
July/August (2010) issue of the American Rose Magazine, 110 roses have
been planted to date in the garden. Two of our favorites, “Roseville
Noisette” and “Setzer Noisette” will soon join them.
11
I Know Why They Wear Purple
Part I
By Darrell g.h. Schramm
Purple is not a color that every rose lover embraces. But certain roses
obviously embrace purple, and have done so for a long, long time. It’s those
long-timers or old-timers that intrigue me, several of which occupy my garden.
I’m less interested in the purple-as-whimsy roses (such as ‘Magenta’—1954,
‘Mauve Melodee’—1962, ‘Purple Tiger’—1991, ‘Outta the Blue’—2002)
than purple-with-meaning, meaning those whose histories and namesakes have
something to tell us in addition to their beauty, scent, and form.
Take ‘Cardinal de Richelieu’ for instance. This is an old, deep purple
gallica-china hybrid with some white to it. But because the central reflexed
petals recall a baboon’s backside, I do not like it.
According to a number of sources, this rose was bred by the Dutchman Van Sian, who sold or gave it to the famous hybridist Laffay. According
to the French rose historian Francois Joyaux, however—echoed by Roger Phillips and Martyn Rix—it was bred by Parmentier in Belgium in 1847. However,
the famous novelists Balzac and Georges Sand discussed this rose in 1840.
Clearly, then, ‘Cardinal de Richelieu’ predates 1847.
Cardinal de Richelieu (1585-1642) served as minister under King
Louis XIII. Called “The Red Eminence,” he seems to have preferred the purple
of royalty. An ambitious son of a lord, a minor nobleman, he became a priest,
then a bishop, a Secretary of State for War and Foreign Affairs, and eventually
the Prime Minister. In love with power, he virtually led France with a harsh
word and an iron hand. Repression came easily to him. “Give me six lines written by an honest man,” he once declared, “and I will find something in them to
hang him.” Such a nice man. He promoted the divine right of kings and believed the ends justify the means. True, he did reform the army and the navy to
the strength of France, and he was a great patron of the arts. Like an old-time
dentist refusing to use anesthesia, he forcibly yanked France out of its medievalism and made it the greatest European power of that time. He even plays a
major though unflattering role in Dumas’s novel The Three Musketeers.
Probably equally intriguing is a certain Robert of Normandy. At the
Celebration of Old Roses in El Cerrito, CA, the year its founder died, an exquisite purple rose, shaded with crimson, leapt at me. Far from being attacked, I
was enchanted, enamored, intrigued. ‘Robert le Diable’—the name is as fascinating as the rose. Graham Thomas declares the rose “most beautifully shaped,
the half-open blooms have bold outer reflexing petals, and later all the petals
reflex somewhat except those held centrally, which remain erect and poised
outwards.” He sees the color as predominantly “dark slatey lilac-purple.” This
12
‘Cardinal de Richelieu’
strongly scented Centifolia (some claim it is a gallica) grows about four feet
tall, a height more suggestive of gallica than Centifolia, which generally attain
heights of five to seven feet.
While no one seems certain of this rose’s year of origin, according to
Peter Harkness, it was offered for sale in a Parisian nursery catalogue in 1837,
six years after Meyerbeer’s opera Robert le Diable made its debut, a work considered by most music critics to be the first grand opera. The ARS Encyclopedia of Roses makes a guess that it was introduced about 1831.
The rose is named for Robert, Duke of Normandy (1000-1035), also
called Duke Robert the Magnificent for his love of sartorial splendor, and
sometimes called Robert the Devil, on the suspicion by some malcontents that
he had instigated the murder of his brother, the previous duke. One legend also
claims he was born in answer of prayers to the devil. He founded the Abbey of
St. Trinite at Rouen in 1030 —perhaps to counteract such rumors.
Though he fathered two children, apparently each from a different
woman, he never married. His son was none other than William the Conqueror.
Robert le Diable died in 1035, returning from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Initially buried in Turkey, he was later—in 1087—disinterred and reburied in
Apulia, Italy.
And then there is ‘Reine des Violettes’, the Queen of violets, named
after no one, a queen in her own right, by her own standards of royalty and
13
‘Reine des Violettes’
floriferous beauty. This mauve-lilac hybrid perpetual has been described by
Graham Thomas as “dark, soft grape purple, later fading to softest parma violet.” Perhaps England’s (imported?) grapes are darker than those in California,
but I have never seen my rose as dark purple. Soft sunset purple, parma violet,
yes. Its flowers are rather like those of a double gallica. It bears no prickles
and no grudges. Even in this essay she reads like a peaceful interlude.
My ‘Reine des Violettes’ rises pillar-like in semi-shade, emitting an
old rose scent, during spring and autumn, offering a profusion of blossoms and
a few here and there in-between. Like a sentinel, it grows about six feet high
by the narrow gateway between terrace and the steep slope of the rest of my
garden; I cannot access the larger, wilder, more Mediterranean portion of Gul
Hill, my little Eden, without passing it.
The year it was released, 1860, it won a silver medal at the Imperial
14
and Central Society of Horticulture in Paris.
The only confusion arising around this rose is the spelling of the
breeder’s name. Most contemporary sources spell the name of this hybridizer
from Amiens Melet-Malet, sometimes even Millet-Mallet, neither of which
seems correct. Though an 1894 and one 1861 source spell it Mille-Malet, most
sources before 1940 (in 1936, 1902, 1882, 1880, 1861, and 1860, the year of
its birth) spell the hybridist’s name Mille-Mallet. That, I maintain, is the correct spelling. Perhaps it doesn’t matter much; the rose will smell as sweet despite the spelling. But don’t we owe the correct history to the integrity of a
rose, royal or not?
To reprint this article, please contact the author at [email protected]
To Be Continued In The November “Rose Letter”
“Joy spreads the heart,
And with a general song,
Spring issues out,
And leads the jolly months along”
— John Dryden
“The Flower and The Leaf” Fables Ancient and Modern (1700)
Some “Found” Roses Of The Purple Kind
L-R: 1. “Honeymoon Cottage Purple” 2. “Forest Ranch Pom-Pom”
(Possible HCh)
(Possible Damask Perpetual)
2.
1.
15
In The San Jose
Heritage Rose Garden
Sat., Oct. 2
“Everything happens in April and May!”
. . . And we lose out, because we can’t get to all of the events we’d
like to enjoy.
The obvious solution is a gala FALL event, and this sounds like a terrific
one:
FALL IN THE SAN JOSE
HERITAGE ROSE GARDEN
Planning is under way now, for a day of tours, talks and demonstrations on
Found Roses, Rose Propagation, Composting, Rose Hips, and very likely much
more.
Garden volunteers are propagating some of the Heritage’s rarest roses, to be
sold at the event.
For updates and information, watch the Garden’s Web Site:
http://www.heritageroses.us/
Click on “GARDEN NEWS”
Want to help? To volunteer, contact Jill Perry at:
[email protected]
16
A Fine
SEMINAR
IS IN THE PLANNING STAGES!
LOCATION: Garden Valley Ranch, Petaluma, CA
Date: Sunday, October 3, 2010
(Yes! The Day After The San Jose Heritage Rose Garden Open Garden)
Continuing An Exploration of
Rose Rustling/Preservation/Identification
Contact Alice Flores, North Coast HRG: [email protected]
Or Watch The Heritage Roses Group Web Site:
http://www.theheritagerosesgroup.org/
In Memoriam
Let us pause to mark the loss this July 20th of two fine Old Rose folks.
In Southern California, long-time rose judge Helen Fredin left this
earth to join her late husband, John. In my stumbling early days of learning
Old Roses. Helen was a gentle, humorous, and always eminently sensible
guide. I, along with many others, will miss her.
On that same day, we lost Dr. Charles Jeremias, a past President of
the American Rose Society (1988-1991), and a lover of Polyantha Roses,
who leaves us to join his late wife, Lee.
Our own favorite Polyantha-lover, James Delahanty of Sherman Oaks,
CA, notes that Dr. Jeremias was:
“probably the last person to own a plant of Mrs. Dudley Fulton,
the incredible shimmering white polyantha bred by Captain Thomas, a
cross of Dorothy Howarth and Perle d'Or.”
From Georgia, our friend Ann Peck also remembers The Jeremiases:
— Continued on Pg. 16
17
— Memoriam — Continued from Pg. 16
“Larry and I had visited the Jeremiases several times in the last
decade.
They lived in a wonderful old Victorian surrounded with
roses. They grew Fortuniana up a telephone pole and had a Banksia
from Peter Beales that was so massive that the bark had pealed back
and the reddish brown under bark with the zigzags were on most of the
vertical trunks.
Lee's Carolina Lady sprawled by the back porch.
They both loved roses and I wish he had recorded more of his seaches
for particular roses.
The old rose that came with our 200 year old farm was identified by
both Doug Seidel and Stephen Scaniello as ‘the real Seven Sisters’. the
identification came at what we call the Old Rose Road Show up at
Tufton Farm outside of Charlottesville at the Leonie Bell Noisette garden. Both marveled at the varied colors of the blooms as they aged as
well as the slightly furry undersides of the leaves.
A local rose grower told me we needed to visit Charles Jeremias over in
Newberry SC because he had a longstanding interest in the rose. We
called, exchanged some e-mails and planned to drop off a plant on a trip
we were taking. It was a classic rose moment. Lee came out of the
house first and even though the rose wasn't in bloom, she first checked
prickles and then leaf texture and then started stroking the undersides of
the leaves. Charles came out and she handed the rose to him without
saying a word, and I watched him examine the rose in closest detail. He
stroked the undersides of the leaves as smiles started on both their faces.
They had the rose for a number of years, and (as did ours) the rose
never reverted to the single form as it was supposed to. It did meet other
criteria.”
“Flowers are the beautiful hieroglyphics
of nature, with which she indicates
how much she loves us.”
— Johann W. Von Goethe
18
Local Groups:
News On The Heart of HRG
The strength of any organization derives from its members, and the greatest strength of the Heritage Roses Groups lies, I believe, in the active members
who are part of various Local Groups.
HRG’s Local Groups may be large or small, and less, or more active.
Some of them exist to support a specific event or garden. Some of them meet
regularly. (Many don’t.) At least one “meets” via the Internet, and has carried
on a continuing conversation for several years. Few formally elect officers.
(One does.) Most, instead, are lead by a “Convener.” Most are not incorporated — though at least one is. Some, like HRG itself, are registered, unincorporated Non-Profit Associations.
Some charge dues, but many do not. Some issue Newsletters, but many
do not. Miriam Wilkins said of Local Groups: “Start out with a light heart,
for you need meet only when you wish to.” . . . And that’s a great way to put it.
If there is no Local HRG in your area, you are welcome (no, ENCOURAGED!) to start one. Three new Local Groups have been born lately, in just
that way. I’m happy to say that two of these are on the East Coast of the
United States. You need not have a great number of people to begin a new
group. Start with one, or two, and go out and seek like-minded folks to join
with you.
In Florida!
The NEWEST Local Heritage Roses Group is North Central Florida
Heritage Roses Group. Its area of influence covers a large area which includes Jacksonville, Lake City, Gainesville , Alachua, High Springs and the
surrounding community. The starting membership will probably be approximately 25, and the first meeting will be held on Sunday, October 24, at Angel
Gardens Rose Nursery, in Alachua.
Convener Pam Greenewald (who has served as a Coordinator for the
SouthEast Region) says;
“After that we will figure out a place to meet and how often. I can visualize field trips, guest speakers, rose rustling. I like the idea of calling each
other Rose Buds! What else can I say?”
Pam will welcome your inquiries at P.O. BOX 1106, Alachua, FL 32616.
Phone 352-359-1133, or email [email protected] Visit
www.angelgardens.com
— Continued, Pg. 18
19
And In Virginia!
As Pam Greenewald began to explore formation of a North Central Florida
group, Connie Hilker saw the same need in Virginia.
Lovers of Old Roses in the Virginia area may be familiar with Connie’s
Hartwood Roses, and the gatherings she’s hosted at her 158-year-old Hartwood
Manor. Hartwood Roses, on Hartwood Ln., in Fredricksburg, makes a natural
center of activities for a new Local HRG. And so Old Dominion Heritage
Roses Group has formed.
An Organizational meeting will be held in late September or early October
(the exact date still to be determined). Special guest: Dennis Whetzel, nursery manager at Monticello’s Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants.
Join the Hartwood Roses mailing list, or watch the web site in the next few
weeks, for the exact date, place, and time of the meeting. Anyone in the MidAtlantic area who is interested in learning about or sharing your knowledge of
historic roses is welcome. Contact Old Dominion Heritage Roses Group,
Connie Hilker, Hartwood Roses, 335 Hartwood Rd., Fredericksburg,
VA 22406 540-752-2795; Email: [email protected] Visit:
www.Hartwoodroses.com
California’s Gold Rush Country — The Sierra Foothills
Just a few months older than the two new groups in the South-East, we
welcomed this spring the Central Sierra Group. This group, with Lynne Storm
and Bev Vierra as Convenors will be a terrific resource, particularly for those
living in or near the California Gold Rush country, and who would like to take
an active part in conservation of the Old Roses from our Pioneering Past.
Speaking of opportunities to conserve roses from the Pioneer Era, we see
a real need for a group in Oregon, with a special interest in conservation
of the remaining Oregon Trail Roses. Though distances between HRG members there may be discouraging, this would be a great place to initiate a group
which convenes via the Internet, (Gold Coast HRG does this successfully) and
meets physically only for special events. A similar need exists in many other
parts of the United States.
Check here to see if your area already has a Local Group. If it does NOT,
we hope you’ll consider taking the intiative and starting a group yourself. As
Miriam said: “Start out with a light heart.” The process is simple, and the
rewards are great.
If the idea intrigues you, contact Jeri Jennings at:
[email protected]
for a “nuts and bolts” discussion on how easy it is to make it happen.
jmj, 8-4-10
20
HRG LOCAL GROUPS
CONVENERS & CONTACTS
San Francisco Bay Area Chapter Contact: Joan Helgeson,
184 Bonview St. San Francisco, CA 94110
Email: [email protected]
415-648-0241
Convener: Kristina Osborn,
818 Adams St., Albany, CA 94706 [email protected]
South Bay Chapter Convener: Phillipa Alvis
Email: [email protected]
Central Coast Chapter Convener: Jill Perry
829-32nd Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA 95062
Email: [email protected]
Yolo and Beyond Chapter Convener: Barbara Oliva
Email: [email protected]
North Coast Chapter Convener: Alice Flores
P. O. Box 601, Albion, CA 95410 Email: [email protected]
Arcata Chapter Convener: Cindy Graebner
282 Fickle Hill Road, Arcata, CA 95521 707-826-4807
Email: [email protected]
San Diego Chapter Contact: Thea Gurns or John Blocker
1325 Tenth Street, Coronado, CA 92118 619-435-8397
[email protected] or [email protected]
Conveners: Jack & Mary Ann Olson
Gold Coast Chapter: (Los Angeles/Ventura/Santa Barbara/SLO Counties)
Conveners: Jeri and Clay Jennings,
22 Gypsy Lane, Camarillo , CA 93010 Email: [email protected]
http://www.goldcoastrose.org/
Central Sierra Chapter:
Conveners Lynne Storm 209-786-2644 [email protected]
Bev Vierra 209 754-5127
Pacific Northwest Convener: Sue Hopkins
15005 132nd Avenue SE, Renton, WA 98058
Email: [email protected]
North-Central Florida HRG: Convener Pam Greenewald
P.O. BOX 1106, Alachua, FL 32616. Ph: 352-359-1133
Email [email protected] Visit www.angelgardens.com
Old Dominion HRG of Virginia: Convener Connie Hilker
335 Hartwood Road, Fredericksburg, VA 22406
Email: [email protected] Phone: 540-752-279
http://www.hartwoodroses.com/
Working Together,
We Can Achieve Great Things
21
‘Sunshine’
(Polyantha, France, 1927, Marcel Robichon, USDA Zone 6 or Warmer)
‘George Elger’ x ‘William Allen Richardson’
‘Sunshine,’ the “cover-girl” for this issue, was bred from ‘George Elger,’ (a short,
bushy, 1912 Polyantha, introduced in France by Eugène Turbat & Compagnie) and the
beautiful orange-yellow Tea Noisette, ‘William Allen Richardson’ (1878) bred by
Marie (widow) Ducher from ‘Reve d’Or’.
Like ‘George Elger,’ this is a smallish, bushy rose, which rushes to produces a
steady stream of blooms, in handsome clusters. ‘George Elger,’ though, appears in rare
photos to be an apricot-pink, not the coppery yellow of ‘Sunshine,’ which appears to
take its color from ‘William Allen Richardson.’ It opens the same rich saffron color,
with striking yellow stamens. Alas! The rich color quickly fades to a still-pleasing
warm crème, but the change creates a pretty multi-colored effect.
Its rich fragrance also bears witness to ‘Sunshine’s Noisette heritage., and bloom
production is said to be “perpetual” through the season. Indeed, in my garden, it does
seem to do just that.
The only source I know for this delightful little rose is Burlington Rose Nursery
in Visalia, CA. Burling Leong offers ‘Sunshine’ own-root, budded as a bush, or as a
Patio Standard.
SUPPORT OUR SPECIALTY NURSERIES!
Use ‘Em, Or Lose ‘Em!
22
Sad News From Euro-Desert Roses
We Received This Terribly Sad News On August 2nd.:
It saddens me greatly to share with you the following announcement that EuroDesert Roses is
closing. I want to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to our many friends who have
supported us and I wish you happiness and success in all of your future endeavors. Cliff Orent
EuroDesert Roses has been your source for rare and unusual roses from around the world as well as the
popular favorites.
www.EuroDesertRoses.com
To everything there is a season, turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven
A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep
A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones
A time to gather stones together....
(from Pete Seeger's adaptation of the Biblical verse)
It's been an incredible adventure, building up as we have for the past ten years, but now the time
has come to break down much of what we've built. Words are inadequate to express my deepest appreciation to my friends and colleagues across the country and around the world who have offered
steadfast support and encouragement. And very special thanks to our loyal customers who time and
again have taken leaps of faith, ordering roses with strange names, often with precious little information available about them.
Although we might not go down in history for winning an award for longevity, I'll settle for the
intensity award. I'm very proud of what we've managed to accomplish together, having introduced or
reintroduced well over 200 roses into commerce in this country. I firmly believe that many of these
incredible roses will be around for future generations to enjoy, and that after all was the overriding
goal we set out to achieve.
But unless blessed with extremely deep pockets, a rose nursery must ultimately pay its way if it is to
survive. And despite our best efforts, the challenges we faced proved to be too great, at least at this
point in time.
Over the coming weeks we will provide details concerning the ongoing availability of our remaining nursery plants and the new varieties coming available for the fall. We will also provide information concerning the disposition of the roses in our garden.
Meanwhile, we have added a few new varieties to our website, and everything on the site is available
for immediate shipping. We will continue to accept and ship orders until we have concluded an agreement with others to take our remaining inventory of nursery plants. We will not have another sale
before closing and we regret that we are not able to hold new orders for later shipping.
Again, to all of you who have supported us over the past years, my profound thanks and every
good wish for success, happiness and contentment in the future. And please continue to support your
remaining independent rose nurseries; they need you now more than ever before.
Sincerely, Cliff
23
Limberlost Roses Presents
THE ROSE CHROMOLITHOGRAPHS OF
Ferenztel Komlosy
Limberlost Roses is reproducing the rare rose chromolithographs issued by Ferenztel Komlosy in Vienna, 1868-1875, and will publish them irregularly in folio form, each set containing 4 different reproductions of rose plates. These will not be in the same order as Komlosy released them, but the order of original
issue is shown at the bottom of each plate.
These reproductions are completed, on hand, and ready for immediate shipment. The price is $34.95 for each set of 4 prints, with domestic packing and shipping costs of $5.00, for a total price of
$39.95 for U.S. customers. Actual shipping charges for overseas
customers will be billed after shipment is made. They will be
shipped in sturdy corrugated packets; if a suitable and reasonably
priced presentation folder can be found, it will be made available to
purchasers of each set.
According to K. L. Stock, the plates were originally issued in 23
Lieferungen (parts), each with 4 undated chromolithographs, on
variously tinted backgrounds.
These are the most rare, and difficult to obtain, of all the old rose
chromolithographs and the quality of the new reproductions echoes
that of the originals. The only complete sets of these plates known
to exist are at the
Royal Horticultural
Society in England, the
Bibliotheque Nationale
de France, and the Library of Congress.
According to Mike Lowe, these chromolithographs represent some missing links in the old roses of the mid-eighteenth
century, with many being the only pictorial representation
known to exist.
The plates presented contain no accompanying text, as
none was supplied, originally. However, each plate does include some of the history of each rose, given in four languages. Each plate is reproduced in the original size, 10” x
14”.
The 1st folio reproduced by Limberlost Roses contains
the following rose plates:
‘Isoline’ Moss Centifolia, Robert, 1851
Rosa sulphurea plena “Double Yellow” Species, bf 1625
‘Socrates’ Tea, Moreau et Robert, 1858
‘Souvenir du Prince Albert’ Bourbon, Laffay, 1852
It is anticipated that these plates will be invaluable to old rose enthusiasts, rose-rustlers and rose history students as aids in identifying unknown roses previously assumed to be extinct, but possibly still to be
found in old graveyards and homesteads in the U. S., or currently mis-identified in large country estates in
Europe.
The Plates may be ordered from Limberlost Roses, 270 Watkins Rd., Campobello, SC 29322-8009,
by regular mail, or via telephone at (864) 472-3220, or email at [email protected]. (Visa and MasterCard
are accepted, as well as money orders and personal cheques.) Purchasers will be notified when each additional set of prints is
produced.
24
An Exciting Project Begins
A Garden Of Roses To Save
A Report by Carol Markell
There is an exciting buzz in the air and it is more than the sound of
bees and hummingbirds.
This past Saturday, Dirt Day friends (who volunteer to work in Gregg
Lowrey’s Sebastopol garden of more than 3000 heritage roses) gathered together. Our goal was to create a nonprofit organization with the
express purpose of preserving this precious garden and its treasures for
a larger audience and future generations. We chose an interim Board;
our goals and the seeds are now planted for our new nonprofit.
Here is a brief summary of what happened (if you want to find out
more or become involved, please email me and I will have you added to
the list).
We want to report to all of the Friends of Vintage Gardens the progress we made today on moving forward with establishing a nonprofit
entity with the general mission of helping to maintain Gregg Lowery’s
collection and garden of historic roses in Sebastopol which will be donated to the nonprofit.
Gregg provided an overview of the history of the garden, his experience with nonprofit organizations, his contacts with horticultural
foundations interested in the survival of the garden, the generous offers
to contribute to preserving the rose collection that have come from customers of Vintage Gardens and personal friends, and the research that
has been done to date on the establishment of the nonprofit.
Our short term goals include drafting a statement of mission and
purpose, developing a set of by-laws, filing articles, and working
through the various documents that must be filed to obtain the legal
status as a nonprofit. What the nonprofit entity will be called is under
consideration. It is important that we all understand that this nonprofit
group is about what can be done to help to preserve Gregg’s roses and
his garden and that this is separate from the business “Vintage Gardens
Nursery”. We do this in order to forward a mission of educating the
public of the importance of the rose in human history and preserving
vintage roses for future generations.
I hope that you are all as excited about this venture as the ten of us who
are working on organizing and building this new non-profit from the fertile soil to those of you who love to smell the roses.
Carol Markell
Email: [email protected]
25
Heritage Roses Groups
National Officers & Contacts
Contact Us Through The HRG Web Site:
http://www.theheritagerosesgroup.org/
“Rose Letter” Editor: Jeri Jennings
22 Gypsy Lane, Camarillo, CA 93010-1320 EMAIL: [email protected]
Membership Chair -- Clay Jennings
22 Gypsy Lane, Camarillo, CA 93010-1320
EMAIL: [email protected] Phone: 805-482-2066
Convener, Nat’l Board : Kristina Osborn
818 Adams St., Albany, CA 94706 EMAIL: [email protected]
Associate Convener Jeri Jennings
(SEE ABOVE)
Recording/Corresponding Secretary: Joanie Helgeson
184 Bonview St., San Francisco, CA 94110
EMAIL: [email protected] Phone 415-648-0241
Treasurer: Alice Flores
P.O. Box 601 Albion, CA 95410 EMAIL: [email protected]
Board Members At-Large:
Barbara Oliva, 1189 25th Ave., Sacramento, CA 95822;
EMAIL: [email protected]
Phone: 916-443-2146;
Wm. Grant, — Member At-Large
Email: [email protected]
38 Oak Tree Lane, Aptos, CA 95003
Pam Greenewald — Member At-Large
P.O. BOX 1106, Alachua, FL 32616.
Ph: 352-359-1133
Email [email protected]
A Special
Offering For
Rosarians In The South-West:
A Regional newsletter, The Old Roser's Digest, was founded by Miriam Wilkins, and is
now Edited written by Joanie Helgeson. The Old Roser's Digest is available for $5./year
(for 2 issues).
To subscribe, send in your check to Kristina Osborn,
818 Adams St., Albany, CA 94706
For Information, EMAIL: [email protected]
26
The Heritage Roses Group, A California-registered Non-Profit Association,
was formed in 1975 as a fellowship of those who care about Old Roses.
Members receive four “Rose Letters” annually, in February, May, August,
and November.
TO JOIN OR RENEW
YOUR HRG MEMBERSHIP
The HRG “Rose Letter” is available IN FULL COLOR
In Digital (pdf) Format, downloadable from our Web Site
http://www.theheritagerosesgroup.org/
(REQUIRES HIGH-SPEED CONNECTION)
Dues (DIGITAL FORMAT ) are
$
10.00/year,
RENEWABLE ON AN ANNUAL BASIS
(BASED ON THE SUBSCRIPTION STARTING DATE.)
Members may instead choose to receive “Rose Letter”
in printed form, with limited color.
B/W Print Membership Dues are $16.00/year.
Print-format Overseas memberships, (served by First Class Mail), are $26.00 for the year,
(U.S. funds.)
SEND DUES TO:
CLAY JENNINGS, Membership Chairman
22 Gypsy Lane, Camarillo, CA 93010-1320
Or Contact Clay Jennings at: [email protected]
“Linsley Plot Quartered Pink” A Foundling of The Sierra Foothills
27
‘Ping Dong
Yue Ji’
Jeri Jennings Photos © 2010
A Rose of China
“Don’t wear perfume in the garden —
unless you want to be pollinated by bees.”
— Anne Raver
From The World Of Commercial Roses
As we mark with sadness the passing of Euro-Desert Roses, we take note of other negative
news from the Rose world. The financial squeeze isn’t limited to our specialty growers. In
hard times — and these are hard times — even giants fall.
Jackson & Perkins Closes Its Doors
On May 4, 2010, “The Blogging Nurseryman” (Trey Pitsinger) noted that: “Jackson & Perkins and their parent company Park Seeds has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.”
This was, apparently, no surprise to the nursery industry — word having gone out earlier that
roses which had been ordered would not ship.
In the July, 2010 issue of the “Portland Rose Chatter,” Editor Rich Baer noted that:
“CHANGES ARE COMING FOR THE AMERICAN ROSE MARKET”
The news is not good. In short, Baer confirmed that Jackson & Perkins no longer exists.
The rose cultivars developed by J&P over the years will be available for purchase by other
growers. Only, see, there aren't all that many growers LEFT.
While trying hard not to see “the glass half-empty,” it seems to me to be inevitable that some
roses are going to be lost. For the immediate future, we’re told that Weeks Roses will distribute,
in addition to their own roses and for ONE YEAR ONLY, the crop that J&P had in the fields.
I assume this would include the most recent — and final — J&P AARS winner, the Floribunda ‘Walking On Sunshine.’ If it is, as I suspect, the disease-free, floriferous, licoricescented rose Keith Zary showed me in Somis a few years back, I plan to buy it.
Yeah, I’m sentimental. Also, it was a h*lluva nice rose, in that garden, a couple of miles
from my home. And, yeah, I’ll buy early, because after next year, who knows what’s gonna be
available, or where.
At press time, received the following news item:
“An affiliate of Blackstreet Capital was named the lead candidate to purchase Jackson &
Perkins, a Greenwood, S.C.-based online and catalogue retailer of seeds, plants and other
horticultural products.
The sale is part of Jackson & Perkins's bankruptcy proceedings, and there are other bidders.
A final hearing date is slated for late August.
Headquartered in Chevy Chase, Blackstreet was founded in 2002 by Murry Gunty, formerly
of the Blackstone Group and Lazard Freres.
Blackstreet manages approximately $200 million and focuses on buyouts of underperforming companies with $25 to $150 million of revenue, primarily in the eastern half of
the United States.
J&P, which has $40 million in annual revenue, operates under Jackson & Perkins, Park
Seed and Wayside Gardens, all between 80 and 100 years old.” (Washington Post, 8-1-10)
More Disquieting News: Conard-Pyle
Don’t plan on Conard-Pyle (reckoned to be the third-largest rose-grower in the U.S.) to take
up the slack left by the implosion of Jackson & Perkins.
Taking a hard look at the world economy, Conard-Pyle (which was once Star Roses), has
announced that in the face of a global economic mess, they are about to “reinvent” themselves.
They are selling their 230-acre plant-growing facility in Maryland, and will focus on “breeding
and young plant production,” with headquarters in Pennsylvania.
Support Our Rose Nurseries! Use ‘Em, Or Lose ‘Em!